Neighbor David Arnone makes a presentation to the board showing the vistas that would be changed, the current state of Garden Solar's projects in Kingwood Township and the activity at West Amwell Masonry Supply.Photo by Rick Epstein

WEST AMWELL TWP. — About 20 residents turned out to oppose a plan to install a solar field behind and beside West Amwell Masonry Supply on Tuesday, April 23. The occasion was a hearing by the township Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Garden Solar LLC is seeking a variance to allow two land uses on the same lot, but that won’t happen until the citizenry has expressed itself fully. Neighbors’ testimony will continue at the board’s next meeting on Tuesday, May 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building.

On Tuesday night, Garden Solar’s engineer and attorney finished their presentations and neighbors began expressing their opposition to the plan. One of them, David Arnone, gave a presentation that included pictures of the scenery around the site and of other Garden Solar projects in Kingwood Township, plus a video showing the truck traffic at Masonry Supply. His pictures showed some ruts on the property and he and Garden Solar attorney Walter Wilson debated whether other pictures showed poor drainage or wetlands.

Arnone said that vistas should be preserved and that the noise and traffic at Masonry Supply should be addressed, not ignored while adding another objectionable use to the site.

Board Attorney Stewart Palilonis explained to Arnone that in order for his testimony to be relevant to the board’s eventual decision, he should address the question: “How would West Amwell Masonry Supply be made worse by this solar facility?”

Garden Solar wants to install solar panels with a 2 megawatt generating capacity on a 17.9-acre tract shared by Mason Supply at the corner of Route 518 and Rock Road West. The solar panels would occupy about 10 acres. They would produce enough electricity to power about 300 houses, said Garden Solar engineer Jim Chmielak Jr.
Garden Solar has overcome the township’s 20-acre minimum zoning requirement by filing a lawsuit, which caused the township to change its zoning. Last summer then-mayor George Fisher explained, “It just doesn’t make sense to enter into a lawsuit that we have a very good chance of losing.”

Garden Solar's engineer James Chmielak Jr. (right) speaks to the board. Attorney Walter Wilson is in the foreground.Photo by Rick Epstein

On Tuesday night neighbor Pam Bland asked who would be responsible for maintaining the solar field after it is built and who would enforce the agreed-upon maintenance.

Board Engineer Tom Decker explained at the meeting that Garden Solar “shepherds” its solar fields through the approval process and then sells them to an outfit, such as ConEd, which would then build and maintain them. He also said that the township’s zoning officer would enforce the maintenance, and could act on complaints from residents. Maintenance would include replacement of screening trees that die.

The solar field would be screened by arborvitae, an evergreen, which Bland dismissed as “deer food.”

Bland said that project would “encroach on the vistas of residents” and that the lot is too small and too close to residences and is likely to increase stormwater runoff onto her property, which is already a problem. “It should be put to the voters because of its implication for the future… Is this the way we want our township to look?”

The next morning, Tim Ferguson, chief operating officer of Garden Solar, said, “We understand the public’s fear of the unknown.” He said that as a Hunterdon resident, he “would not like to see Hunterdon County blanketed with solar panels.” But “if we only use 2.8% of the land in New Jersey, we can take all of the daytime load of New Jersey off the grid.”

He also noted that besides being good for the planet and good for the U.S. energy problem, the solar project would be less burdensome than other commercial uses, such as a Wawa store, that could be built at that corner in West Amwell.